Supreme Court-Bound?
It is uncertain whether the back-to-back victories for affirmative action will permanently halt recent trends against the policies. In July, a federal court in Georgia ruled that an admissions system there was unconstitutional (see Black
Issues, Aug. 17). In 1996, the conservative 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decided a case against the University of Texas Law School, which effectively banned institutions in Louisiana, Texas and Mississippi from using race as a factor in admissions. The Supreme Court, which declined to review that case because the school had already changed its policies, has not addressed the affirmative action issue in more than 20 years.
Many experts think that the Michigan case will eventually be heard before the Supreme Court, but like Texas, the university has changed its policies, so the high court might decline hearing the case. Post, of the Berkeley Law School, says if CIR appeals and Duggan's decision is upheld in appeals court, the case still might never make it to the high court. If the Supreme Court "is still smarting from the Gore-Bush decision, it might not want to take on something that is such a political firestorm," Post says. "That could be very good news for Michigan."
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